The latest environment news from The Texas Tribune.
Across West Texas, wages are soaring for oil and gas industry workers — but so is the cost of living. For those who don’t hold top-dollar energy jobs, just paying the rent has gotten tough. This video is part of our Shale Life project. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/12/TT-Shale-leadart-struggle.png)
Legal wrangling over Denton's fracking ban will give Texans a free course on the widely mischaracterized oilfield technique that put Texas at the forefront a national energy boom. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/07/24/FrackingDenton00002.jpg)
Wendy Davis' rout was foretold by a couple of Democratic strategists who despaired nearly a year ago over the direction in which the Democratic gubernatorial candidate was taking her campaign. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/09/11/UP9A7558.jpg)
Frustrated for decades in its search for a new source of water, San Antonio thinks it has finally divined the answer. It will pay a premium to let private companies do the work. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/09/29/WaterMap-Carizo.jpg)
Advances in oilfield technology have reawakened Big Lake, a town that long ago helped cement Texas’ reputation as an oil-rich state. Soar a few hundred feet above the town to see how it has evolved. This slideshow is part of our Shale Life project. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/04/TT-Shale-leadart-historyrepeated.png)
Grant Swartz has spent much of the last decade in the air, dusting crops over rural Glasscock County. That’s been long enough to see the oil and gas boom drastically alter the landscape of his community. This video is part of our Shale Life project. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/04/TT-Shale-leadart-cropduster_2.png)
Lawmakers filed 365 bills and joint resolutions on Monday, the first day they could pre-file legislation for the upcoming legislative session. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/billfiling_line.JPG)
Two months ahead of the first day of the 84th legislative session, eager lawmakers on Monday filed bills addressing issues including guns, texting while driving, health, transportation and much more. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/25/capitolbuilding9.jpg)
The Southwest Area Regional Transit District helps shuttle people who cannot otherwise get to their medical appointments. But a rush to the Eagle Ford Shale is clogging that lifeline. This story is part of our Shale Life project. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/04/TT-Shale-leadart-abumpylifeline.png)
Some Texas towns are welcoming the bars, strip clubs and “man camps” that come along with an oil boom. Not Karnes City, which wants businesses that will stick around when the oil is gone. This story is part of our Shale Life project. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/04/TT-Shale-leadart-karnes.png)
It wasn't just Republicans in Texas who were celebrating big statehouse gains on Tuesday. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/EducationsVotingRepublicans.jpg)
At our 11/6 TribLive conversation, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick talked about the impact of the shale boom on the state. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/7C2A8378.jpg)
At our 11/6 TribLive conversation, Texas Railroad Commission Chairman Christi Craddick reacted to Denton's passage of a ban on fracking. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/UP9A8368_1.jpg)
Texas is ready to start handing out $2 billion in seed money for water projects, more than a year after voters approved a constitutional amendment tapping into excess oil and gas tax revenues. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/05/08/TexTrib-WATERPLAN-001.jpg)
Full video of my 11/6 TribLive Conversation with Christi Craddick, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/TribLive-videographic-ccraddick.png)
The newly cracked, chipped and crowded roads linking Texas boomtowns have meant more than just traffic jams for local commuters. They've also proved deadly. This slideshow is part of our Shale Life project. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/04/TT-Shale-leadart-deadlyroads_1.png)
Texas voters have picked the agriculture commissioner for more than a century. But is that a good idea in a state almost 90 percent urban? Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/02/04/Corn.jpg)
Greg Abbott readily took on the mantle of governor-elect on Wednesday while others searched for the reason for the Wendy Davis implosion in the governor's race. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/11/05/AbbottPresser181.jpg)
That was fast. Just hours after Denton residents voted to ban hydraulic fracturing, the state’s General Land Office and biggest petroleum group filed legal challenges to the new rule. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2013/10/17/TxTrib-UrbanDrilling005.jpg)
In this week's edition of the Trib+Water newsletter: San Antonio approves a controversial water pipeline, McAllen looks to geothermal wells for water and an interview with Francine Sanders Romero, associate dean at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/2014/04/08/Tribwater.jpg)